Women's Sabbath in Erfurt, Germany

This year, International Women's Day, March 8, fell on a Sabbath. On this day, the women of Thuringia met in the Erfurt Adventist Church for a special day of encounter. A suitable date to reflect on the position of women in society, the church, and before God. We welcomed Korona Schreiter, Director of the Women's Ministries Department of the Berlin-Central German Conference, as a speaker.
During the morning service, around 70 women and men watched and listened to meditative spring pictures, text readings, and testimonies. As a special gift to the ladies, Brother Gauer played a short flute piece by a very talented but unfortunately largely unknown female composer. He told us that before women were treated with equality, it was common practice simply not to mention talented women in writing in the music world. As a result, they remained unknown to a large audience and fell into oblivion. The same applied to women in the arts and sciences. There was even a Nobel Prize (1944) that was awarded solely to a man, even though a woman had been significantly involved in the scientific work. She was not even mentioned when the prize was awarded.
Korona took us on a journey of the women's movement and showed us its importance. She shared with us her experiences in churches that had brought her to the topic. But above all, she showed us how lovingly and respectfully Jesus treated women, using several biblical passages.
Here are a few examples:
The woman caught in adultery was not condemned by Jesus, but protected. Although the hemorrhaging woman touched him, which was not acceptable, Jesus treated her with respect. . Jesus was also not above accepting help from the women from Galilee who had accompanied him from the outset. Yes, he even entrusted Mary Magdalene with reporting on his resurrection. God looks lovingly on his daughters and entrusts them with important tasks, even today in our churches.
As the weather also cooperated on this Sabbath, we were all able to enjoy lunch together in the churchyard. Before the program (this time only for the women) continued at around 2 p.m., there was still time for a walk or a chat.
In the afternoon, everyone was invited to get actively involved.
Using a personalized sheet of paper, we folded our way through our life and faith stories. Korona gave a very personal account of her life, and each woman was able to use the folding story to trace her own path and reflect on where she had lost something or had to let something go. This took us from folding a paper boat to the cross, where we can lay down all our worries and problems, and where Jesus always stands by our side. This activity referred to the redemption from suffering and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
After a cozy round with refreshments, each woman was able to face her many tasks with renewed strength, taking with her a blessing cookie in her bag and a flower in her hand.It was a happy, but also emotional day. At the end, we all realized: “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” Isaiah 43:4 ESV.
According to a report by the Women's Ministries Team in Erfurt